Marquez: “Now it’s completely different”

Winter testing proves to not be as great a benefit as Marc Marquez had predicted with grip levels having dropped significantly.

Marc Marquez went out at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix with a point to prove, during the Thursday press conference Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) accused the Repsol Honda rider of assisting Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) during the Australian GP. The double MotoGP™ World Champion was determined to let his riding do the talking and ended Friday practice in third overall with a 2’00.472. Many had anticipated that the large amounts of winter testing would provide a significant boost, but with grip levels drastically different much of the first day was spent altering setup. Steady progress throughout the day and being within a quarter of a second of the leader left Marquez pleased with the work he and his team have done so far.

With a total of 33 laps completed across the opening two sessions, Marquez and crew have a clear idea of the direction they need to take on Saturday to continue improving. At current it appears as though Lorenzo is the favourite for the race win based on pace, but with rain predicted for Saturday and potentially Sunday the field could be turned on its head. Phillip Island showed Marquez’s intent, the Repsol Honda rider aiming to end the year with as many wins as he can muster after being mathematically ruled out of contention for a third straight premier class crown.

Marc Marquez: “It’s true that we’ve all tested here, but now it’s completely different. We are working to adapt the setup of the bike to this circuit, although we went out with the base we used in the test and it was not too bad. It seems that the grip is still not the best, as happened last year, but we are working hard and I think that we will gradually improve. The important thing is that we are close to Jorge and Dani, who are the ones with the best pace. Let's see if tomorrow we can take that step forward and get the one tenth that I need to be up there with them."